Hsinbyushin

Nat Hsinbyushin on his war elephant

Hsinbyushin ( Burmese : ဆင်ဖြူ ရှင် , [ sʰɪ̀ɴ pʰjú ʃɪ̀ɴ ]; Thai : พระเจ้ามั ง ระ ; * September 12, 1736 ; † June 10, 1776 in Ava ) was ruler of the Kingdom of Ava in today's Myanmar from the Konbaung dynasty between 1763 and 1776 . In 1767 he subjugated the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya and finally destroyed its capital .

Life

Hsinbyushin, who was sometimes also called Mongra, was the second-born son of Alaungpaya , the founder of the Konbaung dynasty. He was initially a successful military commander before he became a candidate for the throne in 1760. Three years later, on November 29, 1763, he succeeded his late brother Naungdawkyi as the new king of Ava in what is now Myanmar.

In 1764 he led a campaign to the east and first conquered Chiang Mai and Vientiane before he occupied the river valley of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya . After the fall of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya , which was besieged for a year, and the death of King Ekathat in April 1767, he ordered the deportation of thousands of prisoners of war to Ava. Siamese histories explain:

“ Bayinnaung , the king of Hanthawaddy , waged war like a monarch, but Hyinbyushin, the king of Ava, like a robber.” ('The King of Hanthawaddy [Bayinnaung] was waged like a monarch, but the King of Awa [Hsinbyushin] like a robber. ')

Control of Siam was short-lived, however, as General Taksin was soon able to repel Hsinbyushin's army.

On the other hand, the conquest of the capital of the Ayutthaya Empire in 1767 meant that Hsinbyushin brought along many court musicians who introduced Siamese playing styles, such as the Saung gauk bow harp , the national instrument of Myanmar, to Myanmar music. This included a pentatonic mood (belae) and new melodies for old Burmese songs, sometimes only the rhythm was adopted. After this defeat, however, he did not undertake any further attacks on the Kingdom of Thonburi founded by Taksin in 1768 .

Due to this situation, Hyinbyushin and his troops marched three times into the princely state of Manipur , today's Indian state of the same name, for looting and the capture of slaves . When he declared suzerainty over Manipur after the third invasion, he was repulsed by troops of the Kingdom of Great Britain .

The greatest blow to his power came from troops from the Chinese Empire . The aggressiveness of his troops in Shan State , Laos and Chiang Mai, the then capital of the Kingdom of Lan Na , led the Chinese Emperor Qianlong to carry out four campaigns, the so-called Sino-Burmese War , against the Kingdom of Ava between 1765 and 1769 all of which were successfully repulsed by Hsinbyushin. In 1769 a peace treaty was therefore signed between the Kingdom of Ava and the Empire of China, which also provided for trade and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In 1773 there was an uprising in the south of the kingdom, but Hsinbyushin suppressed it. During his reign in 1774 the construction of the Shwedagon , the most important sacred building and religious center of Burma in Rangoon , which is considered a symbol of the whole country and one of the most famous stupas in the world, reached its height of 98 meters.

After his death on June 10, 1776, his son Singu Min succeeded him as King of Ava. A phase of succession disputes followed, as Hsinbyushin's father Alaungpaya had actually determined in his will that all his legitimate sons should be king one after the other.

aftermath

The plot of the conquest of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya and in particular the repulsion of the invaders was filmed in the Thai historical film Bang Rajan - Battle of the Lost (2000) by the film director Thanit Jitnukun .

The Hsinbyushin Bridge over the Chindwin , completed in 2004 for the Myanmar Railway , was named in honor of Hsinbyushin .

Web links

• rulers.org